Human female 9th-level spellfire-wielder
(Formerly 1st-level thief)
Armor Class: 10 (or by armor)
Move: 12
Hit Points: 6
THAC0: 20
No. of Attacks: 3 or 1
Alignment: Chaotic good
Str 11, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 9
Weapons of Proficiency: short sword; dagger.
Thief Abilities: PP 15, OL 30, F/RT 30, MS 20, HS 5, DN 20, CW 60, RL 0.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: cooking; fire-building; riding, land-based (horse); 2 open.
Equipment: a light adventuring pack, carrying only the bare essentials: spare clothes, some torches, a cloak for bad weather, extra shoes.
Magical Items: Harper pin*.
Combat/Tactics: Shandril's tactics in battle tend to be simple: wait until her attackers leave any cover they may have as they move to melee with her, then blast them into small, smoking pieces with her spellfire (detailed below).
Allies/Companions: Narm; Mirt; Elminster; Storm; Alustriel (upon Shandril's arrival in Silverymoon); Delg the dwarf (now deceased).
Foes/Enemies: The Zhentarim; the Cult of the Dragon; beholders; and any others who covet the power of spellfire for their own greedy, destructive purposes.
Appearance: A mature woman (now in her early 30's) of average height and attractiveness, Shandril dresses in short shifts and tunics that allow her to move freely and quickly. Her long blonde hair is usually braided or tied back in a ponytail.
Personality: Before the events that were to so change her life, the young Shandril believed in the innate goodness of the world around her. She has always tended to think with her heart and not her head.
For a long time, Shandril was quite overwhelmed by the furor she (because of her spellfire) was causing across the Realms. She did what any young person would do when faced with such a situation - she fled (along with Narm).
More recently, however, she decided that she was not going to run away anymore. Shandril took the offensive, turning and attacking with her spellfire ability those who sought after it and her. In doing this, she found a reserve of inner strength that she did not know she possessed. In these battles against those who had reduced her life to that of one long, nonstop flight from pursuers, she is quite fierce, even ruthless.
Outside of such confrontations, Shandril is a typical person with normal, mundane values and preferences. She enjoys spending time with friends and is very much in love with her husband, Narm.
Locales Frequented: Much of Shandril's past has been spent on the run. Some of the locales she has passed through or visited are Shadowdale, Eveningstar, and even Zhentil Keep (where she went to attack her foes directly).
History: Shandril is the daughter of Garthond, a wizard who had often fought the Cult of the Dragon, and Dammasae, an adventurer whom Garthond had rescued from the cult. Dammasae had the ability to use spellfire and passed on that power to her daughter. The family lived quietly in Elturel only until Shandril was old enough to withstand the rigors of travel, for the cult - which already knew of Dammasae's ability - wanted the child as well as the mother.
When Shandril was eight months old, the family fled with Gorstag, a battle-axe wielding warrior. The four moved to the east in disguise. But at the Bridge of Fallen Men near Cormyr, the cult attacked from ambush. Garthond gave his life for the freedom of his wife and daughter. Before he died, Shandril's father destroyed nine cult mages and three swordsmen. Gorstag and Dammasae were both wounded, but they fled with Shandril toward Shadowdale.
Sadly, Shandril's mother did not live to reach their destination. After Dammasae died, Gorstag turned south toward Deepingdale, hoping to leave the infant Shandril with the elves there. He then planned to retrieve Garthond's writings and the magical items that were Shandril's inheritance. The elves brought word to him, however that the cult had broken into Garthond's tower and prepared its basements to become the lair of one of their dracoliches, Rauglothgor.
Counting on the fact that he was not well known to the cult and thus he would be able to keep Shandril's location a secret from them, Gorstag stayed on in Deepingdale, raising her as a servant girl. When she was old enough, she helped him run the inn he had purchased.
Shandril ran off to become an adventuring thief at the age of 16, bored by her quiet life and eager to see to world. She joined the Company of the Bright Spear, but that group was soon decimated in a battle with a large party of cult members. Shandril was captured and imprisoned inside an old tomb.
She managed to escape using a magical device that was hidden in the crypt. Unfortunately, the magic teleported her into the fiend-infested city of Myth Drannor, where she was again captured by the cult. The Shadowsil, the cult's archmage, intended to make 'good' use of Shandril's virgin blood, a key ingredient in maintaining the dracoliches that the cult creates.
An apprentice mage by the name of Narm witnessed Shandril's abduction and enlisted the aid of the fabled Knights of Myth Drannor. With the help of the Knights and Elminster, Narm was able to rescue Shandril just before she would have been consumed by the dracolich Rauglothgor.
During this conflict, a strange creature capable of absorbing magical energy, known as a balhiir, was accidentally released from a crystal where it had been contained. The presence of the creature foiled all of Elminster's magical attacks against the dracolich. Suspecting that truly special powers lay dormant within her, Elminster asked Shandril to absorb the energy of the balhiir itself.
Attempting this feat awoke Shandril's latent spellfire ability, and she absorbed the energy from the balhiir. Filled to bursting with magical power, Shandril released the force in the form of bolts of silvery, destructive fire that blew apart Rauglothgor, the cult members, and much of the surrounding terrain. His suspicions confirmed, Elminster took Shandril and Narm back to Shadowdale, where he tested Shandril's ability and helped her refine it. Shandril and Narm were soon married, in between attacks by the cult and the Zhentarim.
The couple then received an invitation to Silverymoon, issued by Lady Alustriel, the ruler of that city. Alustriel promised protection from those who sought Shandril's power, as well as further instruction in the use of spellfire. Shandril and Narm prepared for a long journey.
The pair's first stop was Deepingdale, where Shandril was reunited with Gorstag. They were betrayed, however, by a cult member and had to flee again. A third dracolich was sent to destroy Shandril and Narm, but Shandril managed to absorb its magical breath weapon, destroy the undead beast, and heal Narm's injuries. A dwarf named Delg Hammerhand, another survivor of the Company of the Bright Spear, caught up to the pair and joined them on their journey to Silverymoon.
As the trio continued their travels, the Zhentarim began to move against them. In one Zhent attack, the evil men had dug a pit in the trail to catch the heroes as they fled. Only Delg got trapped in the pit, and the threat was easily dispatched by Shandril - after blasting his cohorts to bits with her spellfire, she 'persuaded' the sole surviving Zhent to help get Delg out of the trap. It was not long thereafter that the trio became a quartet when Mirt 'the Moneylender' of Waterdeep, an old friend of Gorstag, joined the company to provide extra protection against the increasing Zhent attacks.
As their journey carried them into the Stonelands of Cormyr, the band of heroes was attacked by Zhentarim wizards and a force of gargoyles. Delg was taken aloft by one of the stony flying beasts, and as he rained axe blows upon the creature's body they both plummeted from the sky. The dwarf was impaled on a shard of rock and could not be saved. Shandril comforted him as he died, and then set about destroying his killers.
The death of Delg was what convinced Shandril that she had to take a stand against her pursuers. She cremated her friend's body with spellfire, and then instructed Mirt to guide her to Zhentil Keep so she could take the fight to her enemies at their source. He agreed to do so, but instead of heading directly there by a long overland route, Mirt took Shandril to Eveningstar and introduced her to its ruler, Lord Tessaril Winter. After the Lord of Eveningstar came to respect Shandril's need to confront her pursuers, she consented to use a teleport spell to get Shandril to her destination much more quickly.
In the blink of an eye, Shandril found herself transported to Spell Court in Zhentil Keep - surrounded by a ring of beholders. She was able to dispose of all the eye tyrants by using spellfire, but then collapsed from fatigue. Mirt, who had followed her magically through the use of a roguestone (see the gemjump spell description on page 148), grabbed her unconscious form and managed to keep her out of the clutches of Zhentilar soldiers who were closing in on the two of them.
He got her to a safe place - a festhall that was being run by an undercover Harper - and soon thereafter the two returned by magic to Eveningstar, where they were reunited with Narm, Tessaril, and their other friends. The heroes resolved to return to Zhentil Keep and finish what Shandril and Mirt had begun.
In this climactic battle, the heroes faced the evil priest Fzoul Chembryl and his minions. Another Harper undercover agent, Sarhthor the wizard, took Fzoul's javelin through the chest - a javelin intended for Shandril. As he died, he implored Shandril to touch his head, absorbing his life energy, and create a crown of fire - the most powerful form of spellfire known. Shandril did as he instructed, and with the awesome power that then came under her control she blew away the Wizards' Watch Tower of Zhentil Keep, down to its foundations.
With at least that enemy out of the way, Narm and Shandril were free to resume their long-postponed journey to Silverymoon, after spending some time resting and recuperating in seclusion. After the triumph at Zhentil Keep, Shandril learned that she and Narm were going to be parents. Elminster informed her that the child would be a girl and that - as Shandril had - she would inherit the power of spellfire from her mother.
Motivations/Goals: When she was last heard from, Shandril's immediate goal was to reach Silverymoon. It may be safely assumed that she and Narm did so; and it is likely that after they got there, Alustriel arranged for them to spend some time in a refuge away from their enemies - a refuge such as Evermeet. (It is an established fact that Silverymoon and the elves are on good terms, and thus not inconceivable that a gate exists that connects Alustriel's palace with the realm of the elves.)
In the long term, Shandril simply wants to live a quiet life with her family and friends. She desires no conquests, no deaths, and no more power than the spellfire she already wields.
Campaign Uses: Assuming that they have returned to the mainland (if indeed they ever left), Shandril and Narm could be encountered anywhere. If this is occurs, it's likely that they are trying to avoid at least one set of foes, and the PCs' assistance could prove valuable.
Sources: Spellfire, Crown of Fire.
This is the name given to the extremely rare ability of an individual to absorb and then release raw, magical power. If no attempt is made to control its release is made, the energy erupts in the form of bolts of silvery fire of tremendous destructive potential.
The amount of magic that a spellfire-wielder's body can absorb and contain, expressed in spell levels, is limited by his or her Constitution score. A spell that is cast in the normal way or triggered through the use of a scroll or a magical item represents a number of spell levels equal to the spell itself. Each 'plus' of a magical weapon and any single ability of other types of magical items counts as 1 spell level (or more, if the ability is unusually potent). Charges stored in devices represent 1 spell level each, all of which are transferred if the item comes into contact with the wielder. Magical effects produced by creatures can be absorbed; a dragon's breath weapon, for instance, represents a number of spell levels equal to the dragon's Hit Dice.
A spellfire-wielder's body can hold up to 10 times the person's Constitution score in spell levels; therefore, Shandril can store as many as 140 spell levels in her body. However, if the number of spell levels stored is in excess of half that amount (Constitution x 5), certain risks and penalties come into play:
(Con x 5) + 1 through Con x 6: The wielder can feel the energy within her (or his) body, and her eyes glow slightly. Any physical contact with the wielder by a living being, a magical item, or a spell effect causes 1d6 spell levels to be released at the being or thing touching the wielder, with each level causing 1d6 points of damage. Once per day, the wielder must make a Constitution check. Failure means that the wielder suffers 1d6 points of damage as 1 spell level of energy is expended.
(Con x 6) + 1 through Con x 7: The wielder's skin tingles, and her eyes glow brightly. A touch (as above) causes 2d6 spell levels to be released. The wielder must make a Constitution check once per hour, with the same consequences for failure as described above.
(Con x 7) + 1 through Con x 8: The skin of the wielder glows faintly, and her eyes shine brightly enough to be noticed in full daylight. The wielder can feel a burning sensation within her body. A touch causes 3d6 spell levels to be released, and the wielder must make a Constitution check once per turn.
(Con x 8) + 1 through Con x 9: The wielder's entire body glows, and her eyes are as bright as lanterns. The wielder is in pain, and must save vs. paralyzation to take any action other than randomly releasing spellfire energy. A touch causes 4d6 spell levels to be released, and the wielder must make a Constitution check once per round.
(Con x 9) + 1 through Con x 10: The body glows brightly and gives off heat that can be felt 30 feet away. The wielder must save vs. paralyzation with a -2 penalty to take any action other than randomly releasing spellfire energy. A touch causes 5d6 spell levels to be released, and the wielder must make three Constitution checks per round.
In any round, a spellfire-wielder can release, under control, a number of spell levels equal to her Constitution score. (For Shandril, this figure is 14.) Any use that requires less than a full spell level of energy (such as lighting a candle) still counts as 1 level expended. Energy expended as destructive blasts, with intent to harm, causes 1d6 points of damage per spell level. If it is used to heal, each level expended restores 2 hit points lost to injury, up to the recipient's normal maximum hit points.
Destructive spellfire can be unleashed against any target the wielder is able to see, regardless of distance. An attack roll must be made whenever a destructive blast is unleashed at any target more than 10 feet distant. A nonmagical target is allowed a saving throw vs. spell for half damage. Enchanted creatures or those created or sustained by magic (including most undead) do not receive a saving throw. Undead that drain life energy do get a save, with a +2 bonus, unless, as with a lich, their life forces are sustained by magic and not by the life forces they drain.
Certain spell effects and magical items that absorb magical energy without storing it can likewise absorb spellfire, are not affected by it, and cannot be drained of power by it. Examples include ring of spell turning, rod of cancellation, wand of negation (if the beam hits the spellfire), sphere of annihilation, and dispel magic (if cast in the same round when spellfire is used).
Spells and items that store magical energy or that create barriers to magic are not affected by blasts of spellfire, but can have their energy absorbed by the spellfire-wielder. Examples include ring of spell storing, certain ioun stones, scroll of protection from magic, wall of force, and antimagic shell.
For the purposes of experience awards and advancement, spellfire-wielding is treated as a distinct character class, identical to the wizard class in terms of XP required to achieve a certain level. Shandril has long since forsaken her budding career as a thief, and of late has earned experience exclusively as a wielder of spellfire. As a result, she has attained the previously unheard-of 9th level of ability in using her power. Particular skills that accrue with each experience level gained are as follows:
1st: The wielder is limited only to destructive blasts (no healing), and cannot precisely control the amount of spellfire released. Each time energy is expended, the number of spell levels the wielder intends to use is modified by 1d4-2 (rolled by the DM), but cannot be less than 1 or more than the wielder's Constitution score in any event. Only one blast per round is possible, and this can be fired in a straight line only. All charges and abilities of magical items touched to the wielder are absorbed, whether or not the wielder wishes it so.
2nd: The character can control how many spell levels she releases as destructive blasts. Further, she can now bend, turn, or angle the blast in any way she desires. Magical items are absorbed only when the wielder wills it.
3rd: Two blasts per round can be fired. The wielder can apply Dexterity benefits (reaction adjustment) to the use of spellfire, though this limits her to just one blast for that round.
4th: Effects using less than 1 full spell level are now possible.
5th: The wielder can heal another individual by touch, or can deliver up to three blasts per round.
6th: The wielder can knock missile weapons out of the air. Hurled missiles such as rocks, spears, and daggers are considered to be AC 5 for this purpose. Projected weapons such as arrows, crossbow quarrels, and ballista bolts are considered to be AC 2.
7th: By projecting spellfire toward the ground, the wielder can fly (Fl 12 (C)). Maximum altitude is equal to the spell levels being expended in feet. At least 10 levels must be expended to take flight at all, and no other actions may be attempted in the first round of flight. On subsequent rounds the wielder may act as she wishes, though the number of destructive blasts per round is reduced by one, due to the strain of maintaining flight.
8th: Three blasts per round may be released.
9th: The wielder can summon a crown of fire, the most powerful form of spellfire known to date, by touching another living, sentient creature willing to donate his or her life energy to bring it about. The wielder must spend three times her maximum spell levels per round to create the crown. (In Shandril's case, she must have 42 spell levels of energy available to bring the crown into being and use it for one round.) The crown appears as a halo of spellflames encircling the wielder's head. It allows the wielder to melt or burn away any nonmagical weapon that strikes her. (Enchanted weapons are allowed a saving throw vs. magical fire.) Also, the crown of fire forms a personal antimagic shell around the wielder. It persists for as long as the wielder expends her maximum spell levels per round, or until the wielder dispels the effect. Other spellfire abilities can be used freely once the crown has been created.